Alaska

Alaska Deer Population: About 340,000 deer in 2015. The population is trending higher into 2017 as a result of recent mild winters after the severe winter of 2012. Herd analysis at right. Historical Alaska hunting data and news archive.

... deer season has been the worst in recent memory for a lot of hunters on Prince of Wales Island... Large swaths of trees have been logged here since the 1960s. It’s left poor habitat for deer and the other wildlife. Without a canopy of old growth, snow can easily fall to the ground — obscuring important feeding spots...

... Chronic Wasting Disease has not been found in Alaska ... commercial producers in Alaska, such as the Reindeer Farm near Palmer, take part in a voluntary program to have their animals tested for CWD whenever there's a death from illness, injury, or when an animal is slaughtered...

... everyone in Southeast Alaska can participate in subsistence hunts ... rural hunters on Prince of Wales Island have been frustrated. Competition for deer has come in the form of a rebounding wolf population, which preys on deer in the area and has been protected in recent years by conservation efforts...

... Before 1940, moose persisted at low densities in Unit 16A (Griese 1995a). Thereafter the unit moose population experienced large fluctuations in population size as a result of die-offs during severe winters. These have occurred at least once every decade (Griese 1996b). A population high was noted in 1997 of 3,636 moose and a low of 1,619 was recorded in 2005. Recovery of the moose population after a severe winter can be hampered by predation (Peltier 2010)...

... The island’s population of Alexander Archipelago wolves had dipped to a low of 89 animals in 2014, but rebounded last year to 230 animals... Three POW tribal organizations supported the proposal, citing the difficulty of harvesting deer when wolf populations increase...

... We had a significant increase in pellet groups on Douglas, when we went out and took a look at those places, which suggests there are more deer ... A series of low-snow winters in Southeast also bodes well for deer ..,

... the group shot deer from a boat, which is easier than tracking an animal on land. It’s also illegal, except for hunters with special permits for disabilities. “People shooting deer from the boat tends to lead to what we call higher wounding loss,” ...

... Recently published research by state and federal biologists on the Fortymile Caribou Herd in the eastern Interior provides strong evidence that both nonlethal and lethal wolf control were ineffective as methods of increasing caribou numbers in this herd. Growth of the herd from 6,000 to 52,000 during 1973-2014 could not be attributed to either form of control...

... subsistence hunters in the area may soon be able to hunt deer anywhere on federal public lands in Southeast Alaska... Public comment for both of these issues ... is open until Aug. 4... [read the proposals]

... Although the results from our gap study should not be considered representative for southeast Alaska because they are from only one stand, they do suggest that creating artificial canopy gaps in 58-year-old young growth stands is a viable option for increasing forage resources for deer...

... The deer isn’t indigenous to Alaska, but Fish and Game experts believe the species has been slowly spreading into the Interior from the Yukon Territory. The experts are concerned they may be carrying a parasite that could devastate local moose populations...

... Mule deer are not indigenous to Alaska, but occasional sightings have been reported in the eastern Interior since at least the 1970s ... In addition to winter tick, mule deer may also carry other pathogens potentially fatal to moose and caribou including liver flukes, deer adenovirus and brain worm...

... Biologists have expected winter ticks eventually will come to Alaska but hadn’t thought they’d come this soon. The state is home to other species of ticks... Winter ticks are particularly harmful to moose and are blamed for major moose die-offs in New Hampshire...

... revoke a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule banning most predator control on Alaska refuges ... Alaska's mandate for killing predators comes from a law passed by the state Legislature recognizing that certain moose, caribou, and deer populations are especially important human food sources ...

POLL: Should Alaska’s refuges be opened for hunting again? March 27, 2017 Alaska, focusingonwildlife.com ... Obama-era rule specifically prohibits hunting for predator control, which refers to killing predators in order to protect another species. Wolves, coyotes, and other meat eaters feed on ungulates such as deer and moose, which many Alaskans rely on for food...

... Intensive management is supposed to consider both predator control and habitat enhancement as ways to boost moose and caribou populations. But habitat manipulation is difficult, expensive and often controversial ... Consequently, intensive management often boils down to shooting or trapping predators...

... “One of their justifications for going ahead was that at that time the deer population seems to be healthy ... The series of mild winters had been really good to the deer and that the deer harvest data is reflecting that deer populations seem to be good,”

... In 2005, we challenged reindeer fawns from a farm in Alaska, USA, where CWD had never been reported, by intracranial inoculation (7) with pooled brain material from CWD affected elk from South Dakota (CWDelk), CWD-affected mule deer from Wyoming (CWDmd), or CWD from whitetailed deer from Wisconsin combined with brain material from experimentally challenged white-tailed deer (CWDwtd) ... Reindeer were susceptible to chronic wasting disease regardless of source species. Horizontal transmission occurred through direct contact or indirectly through the environment...

... the state has an intensive game management law ... that it uses to achieve management of moose, caribou and deer for human consumption. The Fish and Wildlife Service doesn’t allow predator control programs on any federal refuges in Alaska... both the Senate and House versions of the Interior Department budget contain language thwarting the Fish and Wildlife Service rule ...

... we examined numbers of harvested individuals and biomass yield associated with reducing a population from 14,500 to 10,000 individuals over 3, 5 and 8 years. We compared harvest of cow—calf pairs versus unaccompanied females. The higher potential for adult female survival compared with calf survival to impact population growth rate resulted in higher yields from cow—calf harvests. Achieving the population objective required the mean annual harvest of 889, 626 and 477 cow—calf pairs or 1161, 805 and 605 unaccompanied females, for the three harvest durations, respectively... Over a five-year period, cow—calf harvests yielded approximately 56% more individuals and 17% greater biomass, an estimated difference of 130 metric tonnes...

... Deer populations around Petersburg’s Mitkof Island have been low in recent years... DNA is important because scientists can identify individual deer. Seeing the same deer over and over helps them find out how many deer are in the general area...“If there’s more deer pellets on the ground that’s generally can be an indication of more deer,” ...

... a 2.4-mile “pioneer road” on West Douglas Island was approved... The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service recommended against authorization of this project because of damage to important deer and salmonid habitat. They feel the road should be moved to a lower elevation....

... We examined 6 combinations of future timber harvest, winter severity, wolf harvest regulations, and roads on population dynamics of deer and wolves, developed by a panel of experts. Results. Outcomes across scenarios after 30 years varied, with changes in wolf abundance ranging from a 156% increase to a 41% decline, whereas deer abundance declined from 10−37% after 30 years...

... Reindeer—more commonly known as caribou in North America—are a species of deer native to arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. Both male and female reindeer grow and shed antlers each year ...

... The rules proposed in January would prohibit brown bear baiting, killing wolves and coyotes during the denning season and targeting bears with snares or traps. Hunts like those violate the agency’s conservation mission by deliberately targeting predators to increase the output of large game animal like deer, caribou and moose for human consumption ...

... deer... Carcasses have been washing up on the runway since November, attracting birds... “If a bird strikes a plane, chances are it could severely damage the turbine to the point of completely destroying that engine.” ...

... "Although the Alexander Archipelago wolf faces several stressors throughout its range related to wolf harvest, timber harvest, road development, and climate-related events in Southeast Alaska and coastal British Columbia, the best available information indicates that populations of the wolf in most of its range are likely stable," ...

... the longer growing season has resulted in an estimated 78 percent increase in shrub height ... Ken Tape, an assistant professor with the University of Alaska ... in the journal Global Change Biology... the arrival of moose on the North Slope within the past century also could be part of that shift, although other factors such as hunting pressure make their migration history more complicated...

... The coastal temperate rainforest is one of the rarest ecosystems in the world, and a major portion of the global total is found in Southeast Alaska. In this ecosystem, Sitka black-tailed deer are the dominant large herbivore ... winter weather had the strongest influence on population dynamics, via reduced over-winter fawn survival, with mass at birth and gender ratio of fawns important secondary drivers...

... Area wildlife biologist Don Young, with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, doesn’t think Houx’s photo is a hoax. Several reports of a young male mule deer have come in recently from the Eielson area ...

... In 2013, around 800 hunters reported harvesting 476 deer, down from 852 in 2003. Deer populations on islands in the area have lately been at around half of what they had been a decade ago ... deer populations may see slight improvements this season due to a largely snow-free winter ...

... with good fawn production and very little, if any, winter mortality. Aerial surveys have observed hundreds of deer in the alpine areas in the month of July. Because of the rebound in the population, hunters are encouraged to include female deer in their harvest, once the legal season opens later this year...

... 29 reindeer arrived in early June to the Alaska Peninsula village of Port Heiden, where the community is reviving a long-dormant tradition of reindeer herding. Now, a traditional herder and two teenage apprentices are taking on the challenges of establishing and sustaining a herd where there hasn't been one for several generations...

... Deer pellet counts are our primary tool for monitoring the deer population ... This year's mean pellet count shows an improvement from last year but is still in the range of our previous low points like in the early 2000s ... Hunter reports suggest that the situation may improving faster than the pellets indicate... Things are getting better but they're not back to normal yet...

... Alexander Archipelago wolves (Canis lupus ligoni) has plummeted from 221 to as low as 60, according to data released last week... “Because old-growth logging has reduced habitat for Sitka black-tailed deer, wolves and humans are competing for fewer deer.”..

... After controlling for −1-year errors associated with the seasonal transition period, we found evidence for errors accumulating with age. We found no significant difference in accuracy based on which tooth was sectioned... Thus, we recommend the more easily extracted canine for estimating moose age...

... a vehicle smashing into a deer on the Third Avenue Bypass in Ketchikan. The caller reported that the occupants... exited the truck, loaded the deer and left the scene ... charged with Failure to Notify Authorities of the Road Kill...

... The point of the proposal, which was submitted by a member of the public, is not to protect does — it’s to protect fawns. Because what we commonly call “doe season” is actually “any deer season,” and shooting even fawns is legal... Review the Sitka-area proposals.See the Board of Game agenda. Listen to the live stream of this weekend’s (Jan 9-13, 2015) meeting...

... Ancestors of Sitka black-tail deer began to wander north to Southeast Alaska at the end of the Pleistocene Epoch, as glaciers receded ... Alaska Department Fish and Game researchers estimate there are around 200,000 in Southeast, with hunters annually harvesting around 12,300...

... they illegally dumped a deer and four whole ducks on Montana Creek Road earlier this month... the large buck found on the roadside Oct. 1 was barely salvaged yet its antlers were removed. Four whole ducks were found nearby...

... “The forecast remains pretty poor ...The reason for the decline in the population remains somewhat unknown. We know that we had a series of deep snow winters. We had three winters back to back with well above average snow fall.” ... they are never going to get a precise population estimate on deer...

... "this Court finds ... the Forest Service still has not adequately explained its decision to approve the four logging projects"... Larry Edwards, Greenpeace Forest Campaigner. “The logging plans did not take into account that these areas are already struggling to sustain a high enough deer population to allow timber sales, while still meeting the requirement to provide enough deer to sustain wolves and deer hunters...

... Like its predecessor, this deer received antibiotics, an ear tag, and a bright orange collar with a Global Positioning System data recorder. Mooney will include the animal in a local habitat study with several other deer...

... the largest intact old-growth temperate rain forest in the world... crucial habitat for the Alexander Archipelago wolf, which is being considered for Endangered Species Act listing, and the Sitka blacktailed deer ... "Without enough old-growth winter habitat in the forest for shelter, deer populations plummet during deep-snow winters," said Gabriel Scott, Cascadia Wildlands' Alaska legal director...

Alaska Deer News and Information Archive by Topic

Data: Mild winters have allowed the population to trend higher into 2017 after a harsh winter in 2012, For 2015 the Alaskan Sitka black-tailed deer population is estimated at between 333,000 and 346,000. About 200,000 deer in southeast Alaska. Sitka black-tailed deer,related to mule deer, were originally found only in Southeast Alaska. Between 1987 and 2007 the harvest averaged about 12,330. Periodic severe winters can significantly reduce the population. Deer populations are still down in some areas from the severe winters of 2012 and 2006-07. According to the 2013 Deer Management Report [PDF] "As clearcut logging continues to reduce old-growth habitat in portions of the unit (Unit 1A), many previously logged stands no longer support deer, the local deer populations are expected to decline. Population models predict declines in deer carrying capacity of 50-60% by the end of the logging rotation in 2054." Does were 24.4% of the 2013 harvest.